New Grayville School Board holds first meeting

The Grayville School Board's old guard quickly found itself at loggerheads with the newcomers Monday, May 20.

Patrick SeilOf The Navigator

The Grayville School Board's old guard quickly found itself at loggerheads with the newcomers Monday, May 20.

Voting on the first real issue it considered, the board deadlocked twice before going behind closed doors to resolve the impasse in executive session.

The stalemate developed as the board considered bids from Sensitrol and Vanguard for fire alarm and security alarm inspection, monitoring and maintenance.

After spending two hours and 45 minutes in executive session, the board finally emerged to approve a multi-year deal with Sensitrol without dissent.

Supt. Sarah Emery said the district presently uses multiple vendors for each facet of the program. "It makes sense to have one vendor, and it would save us some money," she said.

If such a contract had been in place last year, it would have saved the district nearly $4,000, she said, primarily for the replacement of cameras, heat sensors and other such equipment. Maintenance and replacement of equipment was included in both bids.

"We all want to keep our children safe, but we could spend an infinitive amount and not really do it," said one of the new board members, Vanessa Fullop. She questioned if everything in the proposals was necessary.

Emery said most of the items are required by law, except for security systems.

"We want to try to provide the most secure environment possible," she said, pointing to a recent nighttime attack perpetrated on a custodian and warning the board it could be liable in such a situation.

"I don't feel comfortable," said another new board member, Robert Armstrong. "I need time to sit down and digest this." Emery did not later the pricing information came in too late to be included in the packets mailed to board members in advance of the meeting.

"We've got the numbers in front of us," said holdover member Teresa Mitchell.

"We need to do something," said another holdover, John Gray.

"What's the hurry?" asked Armstrong. Gray replied the work should be done while school is out for the summer.

"It's going to be out for a while," Armstrong said.

Fullop then motioned to table the matter and Armstrong seconded. Board President David Hall joined those two in voting to table while Gray, Mitchell and holdover member Charles May voted in opposition.

New board member John Stockton is employed by Vanguard and abstained, creating a 3-3-1 deadlock.

Emery advised Hall the board should continue voting until a motion was approved.

Gray then motioned to accept the Sensitrol bid, gaining a second from Mitchell. Again, a 3-3-1 vote resulted.

Emery ended the affair by advising the board to consider the matter in executive session.

Patrick Seil of The Navigator objected and Emery cited an exemption to the Illinois Open Meetings Act she placed on the official agenda: "emergency security procedures if actual danger exists to the safety of employees, students, staff or public property."

Seil said he would contact the newspaper's attorney in the morning.

Esther Seitz, a First Amendment attorney with the Springfield firm of Craven & Craven, said it appears the board erred by discussing the matter in closed session.

She maintained "the exemption cited was wrong, and there was no justification for secrecy since this had already been discussed in open session."

The contract with Sensitrol is a five-year pact with a provision for no cost increases throughout its length, Emery said. The cost to the district is $3,012 annually.

The board approved an amended budget for the 2013 fiscal year without dissention.

Emery said the district did engage in deficit spending, as expected, but is "doing better than we anticipated if these numbers stay."

She noted the district did tap reserves in its education fund and transportation is "not as low as we anticipated." However, the operations and maintenance account is down to $52,876, and "that is getting low," she added.

The amended budget is on display in the district office and will be the subject of a public hearing prior to the board's July 24 meeting.

Looking to maximize the operations and maintenance fund dollars, the board will seek a state maintenance grant.

The grant provides a dollar-for-dollar match for up to $50,000 in expenditures, Emery said. The deadline to apply is May 31.

Emery said repairs to the boiler at Wells Elementary School would be the "major project" in the application.

Glen Givens, a technician with Hampton Refrigeration Service, Inc., of Evansville, Ind., who services the heating system, warned the board the boiler-installed in 2007 but grafted on to an incompatible existing system-will cause "serious, serious problems" within five years. The building, he said, "is going to need a mechanical refit."

He advised board members to begin researching a hot water system and to consider placing rooftop package air conditioning over each classroom in order to meet federal interior air quality standards.

At the moment, the board needs to have steam traps in the building inspected and it is likely several will need to be replaced, he said. "That will get you another wintertime," said Givens.

Custodian Adam Roesch said the system "is back to that spot we were in 10 years ago," before the present boiler was installed.

Other items that need to be addressed include refinishing the gym floor, construction of a new "time-out room" at Wells, installation of hand dryers in restrooms, repair and replacement of exterior lighting, installation of new security locks in classrooms, bleacher maintenance and installation of an air conditioning system for the offices at the junior/senior high school.

"If we can get free money, why wouldn't we," said Mitchell. The board gave unanimous approval to a motion to submit a grant application.

In other business Monday night:

• Terry Haywood and Logan Bell were employed as a summer maintenance workers following the executive session.

• The board accepted the resignations of Sherry Bowland as a cafeteria worker, Johnathon Marion as a teacher's aide and Rachel Attebury as junior high softball coach. The board also accepted the retirement of cook Esther Martin before adjourning at 11:35 p.m.

• The board voted without dissent to renew a cooperative football program with the Edwards County district.

• Approval was given for a volleyball camp to be conducted in the school gym this summer by junior high coaches Kim Milligan and Tricia Myers.

• Dr. Melissa Crow, Wells principal, reported the pre-kindergarten program received a rating of 3.56 out of a possible 7 in a state assessment. Most of the program's shortfalls were facilities-related, she said, such as restroom doors being too narrow to be handicapped-acccessible. "We have a really good pre-kindergarten program," she said. As for the facilities, "You have to do with what you've got to work with," she added.d

• Crow noted the district's curriculum must shift to "common core" standards this next school year, which will be "much more stringent." She warned there will be many changes in the curriculum. "It will be tougher, but I think our stdents can do it."

• And Emery reported the Midland Trail Conference is shifting the circuit's baseball season from the fall to the spring, which will bring the league in line with Grayville.

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